Brian on why he loves God Only Knows: "Because Paul McCartney said it was his favourite song"

"New rule: Having anything to do with the creation of a punk rawk version of "All You Need Is Love" (never with the horn part because lol hornz are silly and dumb) gets you the death penalty. No questions, no trial, it's your fault, pick out your coffin." - runnersdialzero

One of the worst albums I've heard by anyone, ever. It's an incredible drop in quality from Love You. Most of the album has a particularly sterile sound that's quite unpleasant and it has some of the worst vocals of any Beach Boys album (I'm surprised that a lot of people seem top have such a poor opinion of the vocals on Love You, but seem to think that these vocals are ok). Bad songs, bad arrangements, bad production, bad vocals, bad mix. There's not much going for it at all. Given that POB was released in the previous year, I do wonder what anyone was thinking with this album. Maybe personal circumstances got in the way, but the group had a very talented man in the background who had been making great music without them. It's pretty obvious from MIU that they needed some creativity and it's almost tragic that we didn't get a Dennis-led Beach Boys album. It would have been a hell of a lot better than MIU (and even through two songs and a lead on LA he managed to make the next album worthwhile).

1. My Diane – The only highlight. I'm not totally sold on the production but the Dennis and Brians vocals are very good. The lyrics are simple, but very relatable and they sum up the feelings of a painful break up - "Everything is wrong and nothing is right" - I've certainly felt that way before.

There's a big gap in quality from this to the rest of the album. I find it hard to rank because there are so many poor tracks, but here goes -

2. Pitter Patter – One of the better ones here, but still not great. Mike sounds better here than he does elsewhere on the album. Parts of the vocal arrangement are weak.

3. Match Point of Our Love – I can imagine Brian being quite proud of this one at the time. I quite like the melody and I can imagine the track and melody as the opening to a low-budget late 70's or early 80's cop show.

4. Hey Little Tomboy – Apart from the obvious lyrical issue on this one, I can't stand Mike's bridge vocal but I do like the "Hey little, Hey little, Hey little Tomboy" vocals (Dennis' part makes this worthwhilse) and Carl's vocal is reasonable too (a big reminder of what the album mostly misses).

5. Sweet Sunday Kinda Love – The album misses Carl a lot, but even he can't make this song shine. It’s a nice vocal, but a weak song.

6. She’s Got Rhythm – A punchy song with an enthusiastic vocal from Brian, but his falsetto is really poor here. I've heard it described as a return to form from Brian but it's not in my view. Also it's a strange song with an upbeat melody and lyric (Imagine Brian disco dancing?) and then an oddly mournful and eerie section that Mike sings, that doesn't really fit to my ears. But I do like the transition back to Brian after this section.

7. Winds of Change - I first heard a brief clip of the verse whilst the album was out of print and unavailable to me. It sounded like a good song and I eagerly awaited the chance to hear the full version - but ended up very disappointed. The song seems half-finished and underdeveloped and the production and vocal arrangement really let it down. With a better vocal arrangement, it could have been one of those Beach Boys tracks rescued by a great vocal round at the end, but the vocals are sparse and poorly arranged. A big let down, given that there's something in the song itseld that could have been quite pleasant.

8. Wontcha Come Out Tonight – Very unpleasant opening vocals on the "Come, come-a, come-a, come out tonight" parts not rescued by a decent Mike Love part in his lower range. Then Brian's lead vocal is reasonably strong and he sounds good, if a little uninterested. Then Mike undoes all of his good work on the intro with his lead vocal - "I've been anticipatin'". Mike Love with his nose turned up to 11. The song is quite weak and isn't helped by some poor lyrics (which read like classic latter-day Love lyrics). The ending does improve things a bit.9. Come Go with Me - Better vocals, but a pointless exercise.10. Kona Coast – A pointless throwback. Maybe some people might think it’s ok, but the Beach Boys should have been capable of so much more than this (and I think Brian and Dennis' work in the late 70's shows this).11. Peggy Sue – Again, pointless. Reasonably polished but why bother? It offers absolutely nothing.12. Belles of Paris – Another terrible song.

Its a beautiful, beautiful song and Brian's singing is as perfect as its gets. And not sure who does all the cool jazzy guitar riffs in this song (Al?) but they sound awesome! I really enjoy when a guitar complements the mood of a song, instead of purely driving it - really good job here.

Cheers!

Logged

"Maybe if we think and wish and hope and pray...it might come trueBaby then there wouldn't be a single thing we couldn't do..."

I've enjoyed listening to most of the tracks on MIU since its release 35 years ago. But Brian's screeching lead vocal on She's Got Rhythm makes that song virtually unlistenable to me, and easily one of the worst tracks the BBs ever released. However, not everyone agrees with my opinion as evidenced by the fact that it's the lead off song on the album and a number of posters here seem to think it's an OK song.

Oh BrianThou Art In Hawthorne,Harmonied Be Thy nameYour Kingdom Come,Your Steak Well Done,On Stage As It Is In Studio,Give Us This Day, Our Shortenin' BreadAnd Forgive Us Our Bootlegs,As We Also Have Forgiven Our Wife And Managers,And Lead Us Not Into Kokomo,But Deliver Us From Mike Love.Amen. ---hypehat

Its a beautiful, beautiful song and Brian's singing is as perfect as its gets. And not sure who does all the cool jazzy guitar riffs in this song (Al?) but they sound awesome! I really enjoy when a guitar complements the mood of a song, instead of purely driving it - really good job here.

Cheers!

It would really surprise me if Al played any substantial guitar on this album, or most albums for that matter.

Its a beautiful, beautiful song and Brian's singing is as perfect as its gets. And not sure who does all the cool jazzy guitar riffs in this song (Al?) but they sound awesome! I really enjoy when a guitar complements the mood of a song, instead of purely driving it - really good job here.

Cheers!

It would really surprise me if Al played any substantial guitar on this album, or most albums for that matter.

True, but he did play a substantial amount of bass guitar during the early years.

One of the worst albums I've heard by anyone, ever. It's an incredible drop in quality from Love You. Most of the album has a particularly sterile sound that's quite unpleasant and it has some of the worst vocals of any Beach Boys album (I'm surprised that a lot of people seem top have such a poor opinion of the vocals on Love You, but seem to think that these vocals are ok). Bad songs, bad arrangements, bad production, bad vocals, bad mix. There's not much going for it at all. Given that POB was released in the previous year, I do wonder what anyone was thinking with this album. Maybe personal circumstances got in the way, but the group had a very talented man in the background who had been making great music without them. It's pretty obvious from MIU that they needed some creativity and it's almost tragic that we didn't get a Dennis-led Beach Boys album. It would have been a hell of a lot better than MIU (and even through two songs and a lead on LA he managed to make the next album worthwhile).

1. My Diane – The only highlight. I'm not totally sold on the production but the Dennis and Brians vocals are very good. The lyrics are simple, but very relatable and they sum up the feelings of a painful break up - "Everything is wrong and nothing is right" - I've certainly felt that way before.

There's a big gap in quality from this to the rest of the album. I find it hard to rank because there are so many poor tracks, but here goes -

2. Pitter Patter – One of the better ones here, but still not great. Mike sounds better here than he does elsewhere on the album. Parts of the vocal arrangement are weak.

3. Match Point of Our Love – I can imagine Brian being quite proud of this one at the time. I quite like the melody and I can imagine the track and melody as the opening to a low-budget late 70's or early 80's cop show.

4. Hey Little Tomboy – Apart from the obvious lyrical issue on this one, I can't stand Mike's bridge vocal but I do like the "Hey little, Hey little, Hey little Tomboy" vocals (Dennis' part makes this worthwhilse) and Carl's vocal is reasonable too (a big reminder of what the album mostly misses).

5. Sweet Sunday Kinda Love – The album misses Carl a lot, but even he can't make this song shine. It’s a nice vocal, but a weak song.

6. She’s Got Rhythm – A punchy song with an enthusiastic vocal from Brian, but his falsetto is really poor here. I've heard it described as a return to form from Brian but it's not in my view. Also it's a strange song with an upbeat melody and lyric (Imagine Brian disco dancing?) and then an oddly mournful and eerie section that Mike sings, that doesn't really fit to my ears. But I do like the transition back to Brian after this section.

7. Winds of Change - I first heard a brief clip of the verse whilst the album was out of print and unavailable to me. It sounded like a good song and I eagerly awaited the chance to hear the full version - but ended up very disappointed. The song seems half-finished and underdeveloped and the production and vocal arrangement really let it down. With a better vocal arrangement, it could have been one of those Beach Boys tracks rescued by a great vocal round at the end, but the vocals are sparse and poorly arranged. A big let down, given that there's something in the song itseld that could have been quite pleasant.

8. Wontcha Come Out Tonight – Very unpleasant opening vocals on the "Come, come-a, come-a, come out tonight" parts not rescued by a decent Mike Love part in his lower range. Then Brian's lead vocal is reasonably strong and he sounds good, if a little uninterested. Then Mike undoes all of his good work on the intro with his lead vocal - "I've been anticipatin'". Mike Love with his nose turned up to 11. The song is quite weak and isn't helped by some poor lyrics (which read like classic latter-day Love lyrics). The ending does improve things a bit.9. Come Go with Me - Better vocals, but a pointless exercise.10. Kona Coast – A pointless throwback. Maybe some people might think it’s ok, but the Beach Boys should have been capable of so much more than this (and I think Brian and Dennis' work in the late 70's shows this).11. Peggy Sue – Again, pointless. Reasonably polished but why bother? It offers absolutely nothing.12. Belles of Paris – Another terrible song.

I was about to write my list of MIU tracks - however i agree with absolutely every single thing you've just said, so now i don't need to bother.

1 "Pitter Patter": up tempo BW goodness. Great vocals from Mike and Al. Great vibe too.2 "Wontcha Come Out Tonight": BW sounds great on this. Too bad he didn't sound like this for the next 20 years. I bet they woulda had more commercial success.3 "Peggy Sue": Not really anything special. But its a great song and its hard to mess it up. Al sounds great. And it kinda just sounds like an updated version of Buddy Holly's great tune.4 "Match Point Of Our Love": Yeah Brian sounds good. But the track sounds like a late '70s porn soundtrack. Not to mention that overall, the song sounds lifeless. It doesn't sound like something would BW would do. Just my opinion. 5 "Hey Little Tomboy": Nice melody. Typically gruff Brian, but I'm used to it and so he sounds fine to me. Obviously pretty creepy lyrics. But I really don't think this was Brian being intentionally creepy. I bet he thought it was funny.6 "She's Got Rhythm": Brian falsetto does not sound anywhere close to as good as it used to here. But it's kind of a catchy tune. 7 "Kona Coast": Lame rip off "Hawaii" but whatever. It's inoffensive. And it sounds ok to my ears. I wouldn't turn it off. But its nowhere close to what The Beach Boys were before this.8 "My Diane": Overrated imo. The Dennis vocal is good, as is the confessional Brian lyric. But its kinda plodding, and it's just not a stand out to me.9 "Come Go With Me": Wall of Al's. It sounds ok, but it's kinda pointless. Of course it becomes a hit.10 "Winds Of Change": Nice try by Al and co. at a sentimental ballad. It's ok. I don't hate it but it doesn't pull at the heart strings like the creators of this song probably wish it would.11 "Sweet Sunday Kinda Love": Could Carl sound less interested. Another boring, plodding BW number. I'm pretty sure this was originally for American Spring btw.12 "Belles Of Paris": Swing and a miss from Mr. Michael Love and co. Seems like an attempt at a novelty hit. Or maybe this was Mike's idea of "doing something different".

I like the way this album is pretty cohesive and uniform throughout (other than My Diane), the album plods along quite enjoyably and pleasantly.

1. Matchpoint of Our Love - This one has really grown on me over the years.2. Come Go With Me - Solid hit single that is fun to hear in a live setting.3. Winds of Change - Don't care what anyone says, I like it!4. Peggy Sue - A solid remake...probably shouldn't have been the lead single, though.

5. Hey Little Tomboy - creepy in retrospect, but if you can tune out the meaning of the lyrics, it's not bad.6. Kona Coast - A bit cheesy, and Mike's vocal a bit whiny, but still enjoyable.7. Pitter Patter - Another whiny mid-70s Mike lead, but yes, still enjoyable.

8. Belles of Paris - This is so cheesy, I laugh almost every time I hear it. And laughter is good in the grand scheme of things.9. Wontcha Come Out Tonight - I enjoy the verses, but the group vocals are kinda weird, like they are imitating chickens singing - I imagine them all walking around with their hands on their hips, jutting their necks forward and backward, doing a chicken walk while singing into overhead mics.10. She's Got Rhythm - Sorry, but Brian's screechy lead just doesn't do it for me. It's very grating and a poor way to start the album.11. Sweet Sunday Kinda Love - I know that some fans in the 90's said this should have been on the boxed set...I heartily disagree. The song seems to go nowhere, and Carl's wobbly lead leaves a lot to be desired. If he had sung it a few years later, it probably would have sounded much better.12. My Diane - Dennis' Pacific Ocean Blue is my 2nd favorite Beach Boys solo album...I was a fan from the first listen, so I'm definitely a fan of his 70's voice! This song, however, is pretty weak compared to everything on there, and does not fit in with the tone of MIU at all.

Well, you're right that My Diane doesn't fit with the rest of the album, but you're completely back-to-front as to the reasons why. It doesn't fit because it's good!

I can kind of enjoy this record if I don't think about it, but basically it can be summed up as '1 great song (my diane), badly produced, 11 awful songs, badly produced'

Big turning point for Brian as a songwriter imo. It's the first time he turned out genuinely mediocre material. Songs like 'woncha come out tonight' simply don't have any spark of individuality to them, whereas prior to this, even his lesser, throwaway material always had something. I find it kind of shocking how far he slipped, really...Mike and Al get a lot of stick for this record, but Brians name is there on the credits for all of the worst songs...these could have been written by some local group that vanished without trace. Awful.

not a great album but it has some decent tracks on here..1. My Diane (Sticks out like a sore thumb)2.Hey little tomboy (ok the lyrics aren't that good but the instrumental track is one of the better ones off of this whole album,if it had been about something else people would be saying how great the song is)3.matchpoint of our love (silly lyrics great music/harmonies)4.wont you come out tonight (has that classsic BBS sound)5.Pitter patter (Ditto)6.sweet sunday kindd of love (not bad but not great)7.come and go with me (ok for what it was)8.belles of paris (bad lyrics great harmonies,interesting music but nothing more)9.kona coast (same as Belles)10.winds of change (average)11.shes got rythym (average)12.peggy sue (don't like cover tunes and this one is oone of their better ones but is last on this album for me since I like the originals better)

This record inspires me to make these faces when listening to it: So yeah. That's what it's got going for it.

1. My Diane - Very, very good. A breath of air amidst the vomit stench.2. Wontcha Come Out Tonight - Good vocal by Brian, lousy vocals by everyone else, but nice, nice song.3. She's Got Rhythm - Dee-lightful as all hell, weirdly.4. Pitter Patter - S'okay.5. Come Go With Me - Remember when the Boys used to do GREAT Doo-wop covers in the '60s? Well, that was a LONG time ago. Still, not wholly awful.6. Sweet Sunday Kind of Love - Carl Wilson is there, he's singin' nice I suppose but somehow I can't manage to give a rat's ass. Oh well.7. Peggy Sue - Buddy Holly is spinning so fast in his grave, he's become a pulsar.8. Belles of Paris - STFU Mike. Shut it. Don't make me go get the staple gun.9. Kona Coast - Like a belch that is awkwardly shaped like the song 'Hawaii'. If I were the state of Hawaii, I'd sue for defamation of character.10. Match Point of Our Love - Laughably bad, but it's not all that funny.11. Winds of Change - Huh? Never heard of it. Or so I cry to myself in bed at night.12. Hey Little Tomboy - 100% nuclear waste, liberally smothered in Mike Love's gastric juice and topped off with the Miracle Whip-covered testicle of Adolf Hitler. So yeah, not very good at all, if you catch my drift.

By far the Worst Brian-involved BBs album by about 93 million miles, which is the distance from the sun to the Earth. Woo boy.

« Last Edit: April 15, 2013, 05:42:14 PM by Summer_Days »

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Wouldn't it be nice if we were older, then we wouldn't have to wait so longAnd wouldn't it be nice to live together, in the kind of world where we belong?http://wildsmiley.weebly.com

Hey Little Tomboy - 100% nuclear waste, liberally smothered in Mike Love's gastric juice and topped off with the Miracle Whip-covered testicle of Adolf Hitler. So yeah, not very good at all, if you catch my drift.